


Shield

by paldinlover15



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst(but not really), F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Hidge centered, I LOVE MY HUNK, Minor Allura/Shiro (Voltron), Minor Keith/Lance (Voltron), Mutual Pining, My First Fanfic, No Smut, No definitive time period, None - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Temporary Character Death, but whatevs, oNe HecK Of a RidE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-12
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-17 04:25:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13651386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paldinlover15/pseuds/paldinlover15
Summary: Hunk's liked Pidge for a while. Pidge has liked Hunk for a while. Right when feeling are about to be confessed, EVERYTHING goes wrong. But with time, can it all go right?(Wow great summary man. This is my first fanfic btw. I wont be allowing co-creators, and and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed along with comments. PLEASE inform me of any spelling or grammar errors. Thank you!)





	1. Birthday

Hunks eye’s flashed open as soon as he heard the dreaded sound that he had become oh so familiar with for the past years.

BRIIING!! The alarm hammered against his eardrums.

He instantly woke up, jumping out of bed immediately. This resulted in a bit of whiplash, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He’s done this in hundreds of times. After seeing an exposed peace of yellow and white metal on his desk, he shoved his belongings off it, revealing his Yellow Paladin Bayard. He grabbed the Bayard and opened his door, leaving the mess behind. He’d deal with it later.

As he grabbed his Bayard and opened the door, he thought to himself. Do the Galra ever even go to sleep, (He knew they did, since he knows Keith sleeps. It doesn’t feel like it though, when he can hear him with Lance every god damn night, “training,” as Lance puts it. Eww.) It’s been days since an attack, can’t Lotor attack any other day? He ran out the door, sprinting to the head of the ship. Why today, his birthday of all days? He never liked Galra attacks, especially when it interrupted schedule, which it always did.

He sprinted down the hallways, still a bit drowsy from the sudden change in situation. As he sprinted, he didn’t see anyone else, not even Lance. He must really be late if Lance was already there . He made his way to the head of the ship, the Altean door sliding open obediently with a whoosh.  
When he entered and looked in, he noticed something strange about the Paladins. That was to say, there were no Paladins. He looked out the windows, searching for an advancing fleet of Galra fighters and warships from the cold, dark, vast emptiness of space, but nothing came. He looked around, seeing nothing different. Were the Paladins already fighting? No, that wouldn’t make sense, wouldn’t he’d see it or something? He searched until he noticed a small sticky note (or the closest thing you can get to it all the way out in space) on his Paladin chair (or as Lance liked to call it, there “Lion Loungers.” Like everyone else, Hunk wasn’t really a fan of it, but c’mon, it was Lance.) He looked at the sloppy handwriting, obviously Lance’s, and read it.

Meet us in the kitchen!  
-Paladins, Allura, Coran

As he started towards the kitchen he laughed to himself. He could not seem to get a break. He’s been juggling a lot recently. Fighting Galra and other small empires popping up, fixing and repairing the castle, being supportive and holding up his friends (usually at his expense), and of course his feelings for Pidge.

Pidge. Hunk really liked her. They’d been friends since the Garrison, even if it took her a while to come out of her shell. Like, a REALLY long time. Being the only two mechanics/tech savvy on board, excluding Coran, if you could call him “tech savvy,” they naturally bonded and spent a long time together. Before, after every attack, he hated going back to the castle and having to fix every little bug and issue. But more often, as Pidge opened up more and talked more, he found himself giddy at the end of every battle to go repair with her. He really, REALLY liked her.

Of course, as any sensible person would do, he bottled up all his feelings and never told her. He didn’t want to ruin what he had, and what he had was great. He hasn’t told anyone, except for, obviously, Lance. Lance was Hunks best friend, and vice versa. They knew each other before the Garrison. They met each other when Lance and Hunk were in a study group, due to Lance’s almost failing grades and everyone wanting Hunks help, and after getting to know Hunk, Lance naturally opened up to him. They both speak of their family, the one at home that is, sharing their homesickness. Lance told Hunk to tell Pidge, like he did with Keith (“After liking him for, like, 3 years rights?” Hunk said, resulting in Lance fuming and Hunk laughing.) Maybe he would someday, with the constant thought in the back of his head that every day could be his last after all, but despite thinking about all of this, he was still tired, and his train of thought barely left the station.

He finally got to the kitchen, Bayard ready in hand to attack, just realizing this could be a trick, and that he probably should have checked if the note was real. He didn’t really know what to expect. Maybe the Galra holding his friend’s prisoners, or his friends holding the Galra prisoners, or the Paladins battling it out with the Galra, but he didn’t expect this. In front of him stood a tall goo cake, completely yellow and his friends surrounding it, looks of excitement on their face.

“Surprise!” they all shouted  
“What? -” was all Hunk could drowsily sputter out before Lance jumped right into him in a hug, not nearly as big as Hunk’s hugs, but still heartfelt and genuine.  
“What’s going on?” Hunk asked to his friends, starting to wake up.  
“Happy Birthday!” Pidge shouted. The sound of her voice instantly woke him up, now understanding what was going on.  
“Oh… OH! You guys! You didn’t have to do this!” Hunk said to them, a smile taking control of his face.  
“Of course, we did, it’s your birthday!” Coran said cheerfully, his mustache freshly oiled.  
“Aww” Hunk mumbled, before instantly hugging the two people closest to him, which happened to be Keith and Allura.  
“It was our pleasure!” Allura said cheerily, as Keith squeaked” my ribs…”

He moved around the room, hugging everybody around the room. They sliced open the cake, which they apparently made before Hunk woke up, and gave Hunk the first slice. Right before Hunk bit into it, Lance spoke “I made it all by myself!” Before he put the helping into his mouth, he could only think of one thing before it hit his tongue. Crap. As his tongue touched it, he did his best not to gag at the flavor and texture. It was cold on the outside, but felt like lava on the inside on the inside. It tasted like dog food (he assumed that was what dog food tasted like when he got a Dog Food jelly bean during an intense Jelly Belly competition) and toothpaste.

“So?” Lance asked, excitedly. “How’s it taste?”  
Disgusting. “Its great” He croaked, still struggling to swallow.  
“Time for presents!” Shiro said cheerfully, smile on his face.  
Lance gave Hunk his present first, with a very sloppy sheet of "wrapping paper" surrounding. He guesses Lance was so excited, or lazy, to wrap the present because he could clearly see it was a piece of clothing. It was a beautiful yellow sweater with white dotting the edges, with the jaws of his lion in the front of the shirt, and the tail on the back, and a beautiful yellow beanie with extra, neon yellow spots of yellow for the Yellow Lions eye’s.  
“I knitted it myself-“Lance began, but Hunk already threw himself into Lance, hugging him the strongest he ever had. He tried the sweater and beanie on, both fitting perfectly and snuggly.

Coran and Allura were next. They gave him a silver , smooth Altean block that after an embarrassing minute, couldn’t figure out what it did.  
“I love it! What does, it, um, do though?”  
“It’s a Altean box that can transform into many tools, if they are within its range of limitation.”  
“Oh, so it’s like a swiss army knife?”  
“A what?”  
“It’s- never mind.”  
“Pidge helped us with it,” Allura added.

He looked over to Pidge, who gave him a full smile, and he swear his face heated up 100 degrees hotter. Trying to hide it, he distracted himself by pressed a small button on a side of the cube Coran pointed out to him. The cube flew out of his hand, levitated in the air, and asked “What language will be selected?”  
“English?” he replied.  
The box beeped, and then asked "Confirmed. What tool do you wish to select?”  
“Uh…” Hunk said. He wondered for a while. “Kalimba?” he asked sheepishly, wondering if Pidge had remembered that he loved them as kid when they rambled about their previous lives on Earth,  
“Understood. Creating object.”  
The object morphed smoothly despite its previous blocky shape, until it formed into the shape of a kalimba.

“Wow! I haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid!” he said with an excited grin. He played some rhythms, still a bit rusty but soothing nevertheless, and gently set it aside.  
Hunk opened Keith’s present next, and when ripping off the wrapping, he found that it revealed a yellow crystal (he at least thought it was a crystal) shaped into the shape of a lion, a blocky lion at that, but still a lion, he almost broke into tears for the second time that day.  
“I hand carved it. I’ve been working on it since January,” Keith said cheerily.  
“Thank you, Keith!” Hunk said, hugging him tightly, tears budding at his eyes before he turned back to the whittled lion, admiring its shape and beauty, and how the light danced across the translucent material.  
After that, Pidge was the only one left to gift Hunk something. She produced something from her back pocket. It was a small, yellow bag, seeming to be made of a leather like material, tied up with a fine orange string. Something inside it dragged it down slightly, and he untied it, finding a small, fine, flour like yellow dust inside. It didn’t seem that special, until he smelled it.

Pineapple. That was cool, his mom once gave hi- Wait. WAIT. Pineapple!

He swung his head around to Pidge, her giving him a sheepish grin, and instantly ran over to her, hugging and lifting her around, his eye’s watering. After that they both sat down, Hunk slightly blushing when he realizing what he did, everyone laughing. Hunk had been trying to recreate pineapple flavor for months, but never got the taste right. He tried some and, although slightly different, tasted remarkably similar to pineapple.  
“Where did you get it!”  
“I got it at the Space Mall Earth in the very back of the store, from the Martian guy.”  
“Awhh- You guys, you really shouldn’t have done this,” he said, looking up to all of them.  
“We had to! Your part of our team!” Lance said, smile on his face  
“Now,” Shiro said, sternly but with an edge of happiness, visible on his face and his voice. “Everyone get ready to go to the carnival.”  
“Carnival?” Hunk sputtered. “Were going to a carnival? A normal, human carnival?”  
“Well, its underwater, and its inside a giant dome, but yes, we're going to your human Corn-a-vile,” Coran spoke up.  
“Don’t we have to defend the castle though?”  
“Me and Coran will take turns guarding the castle, and if we need to defend we can leave,” Allura said cheerfully. “We’ll be there in half a Varga, so get ready!”  
“We got all exclusive passes man.” Lance said excitedly. “Set us back a couple thousand Gac though."

While everyone got up to leave, and Hunk stayed behind, putting the cake in the fridge and the pineapple powder into a secure box, and noticed Pidge was still in the room with him, and didn’t leave like everyone else.  
“Aren’t you going to get ready like everyone else?”  
“Nah, I’m already ready. I was just going to hang with you, if that’s okay?” she asked, a small blush forming on her cheeks.  
“Yeah, that’s- um- great um, yeah” he sputtered turning around trying to hide his larger blush. “I’m going to get dressed into more casual clothing, anything but my pajamas,” he joked.  
She laughed, and his face instantly reddened even more.  
“I’ll wait in your room then.”  
“S-Sure.” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They walked back to Hunks room, and he cleaned up his room a bit. It was already neat, but after waking up in a daze thinking he’d have to fight for his and his teammates live’s, sprinting off ready for a fight, he left his room a little clustered.  
“I’m going to take a shower.”  
“Ok, I’ll wait in here,” she replied nonchalantly.  
“Oh, its fine, you don’t have to,” he replied nervously.  
“Nah, I like it in here.”  
“O-ok.”

As Hunk turned and entered the bathroom, closed the door, and turned on the shower she swore she could see him blush. It was probably just her imagining it. Just being hopeful. Her "small" crush on Hunk had been ever so present since the Garrison. She doesn’t know when she really like him. It didn’t just happen instantly. It was small, kind gestures that caused this, If she had to put an exact time though, she thinks it may have happened when Hunk had vouched for her after she got discovered hacking into the school lunch schedule. The Garrison’s immediate suspect was Pidge, and she almost got detention for two weeks, but Hunk said he did it. She asked him why, and he just said that she was his friend. After that she noticed that she felt more comfortable around him, and ever since they’ve all been cooped up together up here for years, she really thinks that she’s closer to him more than anybody else on the ship.

She sat down and took in the room. It was neat, maybe just a little clustered on his desk but she could totally relate. As she looked over the desk, she noticed some normal things: pencils, paper, glasses of water, his Yellow Paladin Bayard, and what not. Out of all of this, one thing stood out; a bright yellow book with a design that looked like a pointy fisherman hook. Hunks said something about them, and Pidge thinks their called a Tatau or something. She looks back and forth, expecting Hunk to be looking, and she opened it.

~ ~Property of Hunk~ ~

Was this… a diary?  
She looked at the book for a second, deciding if she should read it or not. It’s not like he writes every secret in here, right. Scratch that, that sounds like something Hunk would do. Pidge knows she shouldn’t, but she would really like to know if Hunk shared her feelings. It would really grant her some piece of mind. She opened the book and skipped until she found stuff mentioning her the Garrison.

February 19th  
The new kid, Pidge Garrett is a tough nut to crack. He seems cool and I’d love to get to know him, but he kind of secludes himself from us. But with my outgoingness and Lance’s something, we can get through to him. Right?

He wasn’t wrong. At the Garrison, all of Pidges priorities were on finding her dad and her brother, Matt. She didn’t spend much time with Hunk or Lance that much, until later when they started to really connect

February 13th  
Finally got to know more about Pidge today! He’s cool, apparently, he was the one who got us lasagna day 3 times in a row. He’s super cool. I wonder what he thinks about me.

February 14th  
Pidge got caught hacking into the lunch schedule. Well, it was more like they discovered the erased and new code, and everybody thought Pidge did it. I really didn’t want him to get in trouble, so I vouched for him. Detention for 2 more weeks, but hey, anything for a friend…

February 16th  
Sorry if this looks a little sloppy, but me and Lance (Lance is making me) go see what Pidge is doing on the roof, got to go-

She smiled as she realized were this led to.

February 18th  
Journal, you’re not gonna believe what I’m gonna tell you.

She skipped ahead, seeing as these pages were just talking about what happened when they first became Paladins, found the Blue Lion, bla bla bla and other, everyday things. As she skimmed through the pages, she was starting to think that Hunk didn’t see her as more than a friend, until she saw more entries about her. Specifically, her.

October 21st  
So apparently Pidge is a girl. I guess that doesn’t really change anything, since I always assumed he she was a she, but I’d still love to spend more time with him her. 

October 29th  
I asked Pidge if she wanted to help me repair my lion, but she said she was still looking for her brother, and she was too busy. Its fine I guess…

Small, sad faces littered the page, and Pidge felt bad. For a while, she couldn’t bare herself than to do anything other than look for her family. She still gets distracted with it, but now she spends more time on Voltron than on the search for her dad. They found Matt a while ago, but he was part of the coalition as a general now, so he didn’t stay with them much anymore.

December 14th  
I finally got Pidge to do something with me!!!!!! We went scouting on empty planet for resources, and she really opened up to me! We had fun. She’s smart, and funny. I don’t want to tell her how I feel, cause I’m afraid she’ll think I’m weird or something. But that’s okay. As long as I get to spend time with her.

She felt a small blush creep up on her face. Did Hunk really like her? She skimmed over the further pages, noticing that almost all the entries were about her. She still didn’t know if she liked her though. She really hoped he did though.

January 12th  
Sorry for the giant gap journal, there’s been a lot going on. Tomorrow's gonna be my birthday but I guess that really isn’t important up here in space. I was thinking about telling Pidge about what I’ve been thinking. We’ve really bonded over the year, but I’m still not sure if she feels the same. Lance says to tell her, but he’s not the best at advice. Last time I took his advice, I got stuck in a Galran prison for half a week. Not a fun experience. I don’t know if I’m ready to tell her I-

She was about to turn the page but realized the shower water has stopped running. She quickly threw the book back into its original space and lied down, trying to look casual as Hunk entered the room, wearing his default and attire and headband.

“Ready to go?” he said.  
“Uh- um- uh, yeah…”  
“You ok?” he said with a worried expression on her face  
“Yeah, yeah, I’m just gonna, go um get, uh, my glasses” she said awkwardly, speed walking out and hoping he didn’t notice the big red blush on her checks, and the fact she was wearing her glasses.


	2. Carnival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team gets to the carnival for fun, but things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and feedback are appreciated. Thanks!

After assembling at the head of the ship, the team prepared to land on the planet. It was a mostly water covered planet, with spots and bits of land dotting it. Allura told us still to bring our Bayard’s, in case we encounter opposing forces of any kind. They’d have to make sure the Bayard’s would be concealed, as to not attract any attention. The planet was covered with water, and they found a small island to land on. They did a quick search of the island for Galra or hostile forces. They grouped into a small Altean water craft. It still worked well, even after being 10,00 years old. Coran volunteered to stay back, leaving just the Paladins and Allura to go on the water craft. Allura was the only one who understood Altean (no one else attempted learning after Pidge tried to learn it and they realized how intense the process was) and how to pilot the ship, so she got driver’s seat, and Shiro sat next to her. Hunk had noticed something between Allura and Shiro recently. He was basically an expert in reading other people, and although Shiro and Allura may conceal their feelings well (even after knowing her for years, Allura had a poker face that rivaled Keith’s), he knew who they truly are (NOT because he’s read their diaries. Multiple times. Every week). There were only three seats in the back though. Great. Keith and Lance instantly took the right and middle seats, leaving one seat left.   
“Oh, did you want us to make another trip?” Allura said, noticing.  
Right about as Hunk was going to say that would be fine and he’s wait, Pidge spoke up for him.  
“Nah, its fine, I’ll just sit with Hunk.”  
What.   
“That good with you, right Hunk?” she asked, looking towards him.  
No no no no no no no. Not now.  
“Yeah, its fine,” he lied, trying to sound casual. Allura noticed the way his face lit up scarlet, and she turned her eyes to Pidge. Realization settled upon her face, and she grinned slyly at him before returning to the controls.  
Hunk got in and sat down, and Pidge sat down on top of his lap. His LAP. He could feel another dark shade of red creeping up his face. He looked to his left, trying to hide his blush, and Lance noticed next to him. He nudged Keith, who noticed as well, and they both smiled slyly at him. Couldn’t even catch a break on his birthday. He looked away, trying to ignore both Keith and Lance’s looks and his crush LITERALLY SITTING ON HIS LAP.. Just focus on anything else. Anything.   
Thankfully Allura provided a distraction. “I forgot to ask Hunk, how old are you now?”  
“Oh, I’m 21 now.”  
“Oh, you’re allowed to carry a weapon now, aren’t you?” Lance asked as he joined the conversation.  
He groaned at Lance’s comment, not believing how stupid that comment was. “Lance, I’ve been doing that for years,” he said as he waved his Bayard at Lance.  
He blushed from embarrassment as he replied. “Oh, yeah…”  
The ride was going smooth, with nothing really happening (if you didn’t count the discomfort of his ears as they popped the lower they submerged into the ocean,) until Pidge pulled out her ‘tablet’ and sat crisscross in Hunks lap as she leaned into his stomach.  
He went rigid, not daring to move, for fear of making it all even more awkward. Pidge didn’t seem to care, relaxing into him even MORE than before. Even if Pidge didn’t notice, Lance sure did. He looked at Hunk, not even trying to hide his grin. Shiro watched all of this play out, with a faint smile on his lips as he looked towards Allura. She looked back at him, and they both smiled fully as they laced their hands together under the seats, away from view.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was thankful when they finally made it into the dome, and they all got out of the ship and parked it into the free parking (as Allura deciphered the alien language.) When they got in, and payed their Gac for tickets (Cold rectangular pieces of metal, with weird alien symbols on them.)  
When they entered the park, he didn’t know what to expect. Maybe magma showers, or black hole juggling, or roller coasters which you go faster the speed of light, or just weird, alien stuff he’s yet (and never planning to) become accustomed to. He wasn’t expecting normal roller coasters, food stands, and a Ferris Wheel.  
“Whoa!” Keith gasped.  
“But, it- its, normal!” Lance said excitedly.  
“It’s magnificent!” Allura said with a smile plastered over her face.  
“Hunk,” Pidge gasped, tugging Hunk towards one of the rides by his shirt sleeve, “there’s a roller coaster!”  
Pidge dragged Hunk into a line, and they waited there for half a Varga. They finally got to the front of the ride, and waited for the next cart to pull up. There was a toll that had the number “934” on it and Alien writing beneath it. His mind raced. Did it mean number of concussions? Malfunctions? Deaths? And then, before he knew it, he was standing before the previous passengers as they got out of the sleek, aerodynamic cart, and Hunk examined their faces. They all looked dazed and sick, and one of the immediately fell over and two (what Hunk presumed were) Medics immediately picked and set the alien and put it on a cot. Oh boy. Hunk was never fond of roller coasters due to his proneness to motion sickness, and he was having second thoughts.  
“Pidge, do you think this is a good idea? We don’t know what this thing is. It could be a trap! Or its not suited for humans! Or…” he stood there thinking, of ways (excuses) they could skip this ride and move onto another. Bumper cars? Ferriss wheel? Tunnel of Love…  
“Oh….” Pidge said as she looked down at the floor, disappointed. “Sure…”  
Hunk immediately regretted what he said. “We don’t have to! We can go on if you- “Hunk was interrupted as an alien worker who pushed them into the carts. In the front cart.  
“Ifyouhavetoleavethecartpleasedosonow. Haveagoodride!” said the voice that crackled over the ‘speakers.’ In a matter of seconds before they were launched forwards, but it only lasted a few seconds. It continued slow at first as they climbed their way upward, and Hunk felt a lot better. Maybe it won’t go to fast. They slowly made their way to the very top. They cart stayed there, suspended in place. He heard a faint hum resonating from the machine, one he recognized of the cart powering up. To launch forward. He instantly reached out to the hand railings, and grabbed empty air. He looked towards the rails. Except there weren’t any. What?  
“Pidge, get ready!”  
“Hunk, calm down, it’s just a ride-.” she was interrupted by them instantly launching forward, their faces becoming a blur. They launched instantly down, into a tube that went outside the dome. Hunk struggled as he clung to the cart for dear life. As they rocketed down the track, he thought he heard his name. He ignored it, as he was clutching the cart so hard his knuckles had gone white, with his heart pounding in his ears, they approached a loop-de-loop but then heard it again, louder.  
“HUNK!”   
Hunk looked towards the edge to Pidge, and saw she was almost hanging out of the ride, clinging to the smooth metal the cart was made up of. He immediately let go of the cart, no longer concerned of his own safety, and reached over to Pidge as she put her arm out, extending towards to him. They interlocked hands, and Hunk used all his strength to pull her back into the cart, using his feet to push off her side of the cart. He finally pulled her in completely, and they were leaning against each other, staring at one and others faces. The both of them started blushing as they realized they were still holding hands and both pulled away before they simultaneously lurched forward as the ride skidded to an immediate stop.  
“Wehopeyouhadagoodride, pleasexittoyourleft,” the crackly voice said again as they were pushed out of the cart by workers, and new passengers instantly boarded the cart and were launched forward.  
Pidge almost fell once she got out, and Hunk instantly helped her back up. They clambered over to the edges, both holding on to the railing as they tried to catch their breath. Once they finally did, Pidge noted “Probably should have listened to you on that one.”  
“Yeah…”  
After an awkward silence, Pidge said awkwardly “Thanks for not letting me, you know, die.”  
“Sure…” he said with a blush, turning his head to look at her. She was also flushed, and they stayed like  
Once they could both walk, they walked down the flight of stairs to get back to the ground. They spotted a bench and sat there together for a moment. After a couple of minutes sitting there, red, Keith and Lance noticed them and walked over.  
“Woah, are you guys ok?”  
“We’re fine,” Hunk said tiredly, drinking his water.  
“What ride did you guys go on?” Keith asked.  
“That one,” Hunk said to them as he pointed to the death coaster they just rode.  
“Oh. That looks… safe,” Keith said, the end of his statement dripping with sarcasm.  
Looking at the coaster, Lance said, “We were going to go on the bumper cars, did you guys want to go?”  
“We’re fine,” Hunk said as he looked at Pidge.  
“Ok, we’ll see you later,” said Keith, as he and Lance walked away, hand-in-hand.  
Hunk stood up and went to go get some water for the both of them, and she reflected on what the hell just happened. She took some time to calm down, and she began to think. Did Hunk really let go just to save her? He didn’t even hesitate, immediately put himself in danger just for her. As she thought, a small blush appeared on her face. It was amazing timing, as it was right as Hunk came back with water.  
“Are you ok?” he asked, concerned.  
“Yeah, I’m good. How about you?” she replied awkwardly.  
“Fine, I guess.”  
They stayed like that before he decided to speak up.  
“Hey,” he said, as he put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you sure you’re ok? Your face is red.”  
Her face intensified in heat (and probably color) as soon as he rested his shoulder on her, and he brushed against her forearm  
“Yeah, I just need to lay down.”  
“I’m taking you back to the ship,” he said, picking her up, concern coating his expressions.  
“What! No! Today’s about you, not me,” she protested as she struggled around in his grip, trying to resist. After she realized her efforts were useless, she gave up.  
Hunk got Allura from the Tunnel of Love with Shiro. He smiled to himself as he realized his suspicions of the two were confirmed. She and Hunk ‘drove’ Pidge back to the surface island. As she closed her eyes, she couldn’t help but relish in the fact that Hunk was carrying her. She loved it when he did that, and she wasn’t embarrassed to admit she’s pretended to fall asleep before just so he would carry her back to her room. As they entered the castle, Pidge actually did end up falling asleep in Hunks arms. Allura suggested the healing pods, but Hunk said that she just needed to lie down. He brought her back to her quarters and let her down on her bed, tucking her in.   
“Sorry about all this Pidge.” he said to her sleeping form, or what he at least thought was sleeping. He stood up to leave but turned back to her and plucked a kiss on her forehead.  
“Love you,” he added before he turned towards the bathroom  
As soon as he got up and left for the bathroom, Pidge finally let loose the giant grin she’s been trying to contain ever since Hunk picked her up. He said love you. The spot he pecked her at was tingling up an electric storm, and she was buzzing with energy. She thought she may have been reading into it, he says ‘love you’ to everyone, but it sounded like he was relieved once he said that, like it’s been on his chest for a while. As she started to fall asleep, she smiled to herself, falling into a dream of her and Hunk, by themselves, with each other. Maybe he really does like me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WeLl itS 2:00 Am and iM tIREd as hell, hope yall liked it.


	3. Suprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wow. this was an eventful chapter, at least towards the end. yeet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope y'all have like the twist I threw at yall at the end. I didnt

Pidge slowly started to wake up and rubbed her eyes drowsily. What happened? She laid there, before it all came back to her in a flash, and she remembered the carnival, Hunk and her on the insane roller coaster, and him bringing her back here, like a damsel in distress. She looked over the room and saw the familiar, large figure, slouched over, snoring in her chair. Hunk. Her heart sored at the thought that he stayed here for her, forgetting his Birthday this whole time. Then it died down as she realized he stayed here for her, forgetting HIS Birthday this whole time. She ruined his birthday just because she wouldn’t listen to what he said and got on that stupid rollercoaster. Hunk stirred, and he blinked a couple of times. 

“…Oh, hi Pidge…” he said, almost falling asleep before his eyes shot open as she moved off the bed and got up.

“Oh! Pidge, you’re ok!” he said as he ran up to her and hugged her. She blushed as she hugged her back “I was worried!”

“I’m fine Hunk.” She replied.

“Oh! I’ll be back in a second!” he said as he rushed out of the room. She felt lonely without him, but those feelings were abolished as he came back in seconds later with a cup of water and some food goo, grin plastered over his face.

“Ugh, I can’t eat any more food goo Hunk. Coran’s going to kill us with that shit.”

“Don’t worry, I spiced it up,” he said as he handed her the bowl and set the water on her bedside. She took a scoop of food goo, expecting the same old repetitive taste, but was delightfully greeted with a smoky, pineapple flavor.

“Oh my god!” she groaned, digging in. “This stuff is delicious!” Halfway through she realized that he had used some pineapple powder, and that the amount she gave him was very limited. “Hunk! You didn’t have to waste your goo on me! There’s not that much of it in the bag.”

“If you like it, I don’t consider it a waste,” Hunk replied with. They both then blushed at his words, turning their heads away from each other.

“C’mon, let’s go sit you down at the kitchen.”

“Ok.”

Hunk waited outside as she changed, and once she was done, they walked to the kitchen, Pidge slightly leaning on him. Once she finished the food goo, she asked him “So, when did you want to go back to the carnival?”

The look on his face changed from joyful to a mix of remorse and sadness. “Oh, about that.”

“What?” she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

“We left that a couple hours ago.”

“What!” They only got to go on one ride, and that was more of a death trap than a ride.

“Did you at least go back after you dropped me off?”

“Oh, no, I stayed there with you.”

“You should’ve gone back! It’s your birthday!”

“I didn’t want to leave you here, by yourself.” he said. After his face flushed at the words, he added, “besides, it wouldn’t have been the same without you.”  
They both looked at each other, eye’s gazing into the others. They inched their hands toward each other, and he intertwined his fingers with hers.

“Pidge, I’ve wanted to get this off my chest for a while. I- “

He was interrupted by a loud boom, and then a groan as the ship turned on its side and they were thrown against the wall. Hunk landed facedown, and he scrambled up to his knees, and was then touching his nose, wincing at the pain and the fact it was at a twisted angle, and wiping off the blood streaming from it. As he put his foot up, trying to get up, Pidge fell right on top of his back and they were both pushed to the ‘floor.’

“Sorry Hunk!”

“S’ fine. We need to get to the lions,” he groaned. Conveniently, after he said this, the natural gravity returned as the ship, and they were back on the regular floor. He got up and pulled her up and they sprinted out of the kitchen towards the head of the ship, and found the other Paladins in their armor, Allura and Coran looking out the window into the face of an armada of Galra warships.

“Particle Barriers are failing!” Coran yelled.

The princess was sweating from intense concentration, as she kept the barriers up and fired at the ships.

“Everyone,” Shiro yelled, determination plating his voice. “To your lions!"

 

As Hunk got closer to his lion on his speeder, he felt its warm and caring presence strengthen. He got to his seat, and he felt his lion power on. His lion shot out of the hangar, and he grouped up with the other Paladins and their lion’s, flying head on towards the incoming Galra fleet.

“What’s our plan?” Pidge asked Shiro, as they shot at the incoming fleet of Galra warships.

“We have to form Voltron!” He answered.

They got in formation and Hunk began to feel the connection to the other Paladins, but it was abruptly ended as they were attacked by multiple fighters shooting at them.  
“We’re going to have to take down these fighters if we’re going to form Voltron!” Keith yelled.

They all diverged and started attacking the fleet of Galra fighters, and when they got the chance, took down some Galra battleships. Hunk groaned as he and his lion blocked shots for the others.

“I need some help! Multiple fighters on my trail!” Lance yelled. Hunk was there in an instant smashing, through all of them while also taking the shots.

“Thanks!”

“You got it,” he groaned out as he moved on to smash through more fighters.

The remaining Galra fighter ships retreated to their battleships, but the battleships remained and fired, but none of the shots hit as they dodged the incoming shots.

“We have our opening. Form Voltron!”

They flew in formation upwards, their colors streaking behind them and Hunk felt connected to his friends, and in an instant, they were Voltron. They towered over the Galra ships and they formed the sword and cut through all the battleships with the assistance of Coran and Allura's covering fire.

After they finished the last ship off Pidge alerted the team. “Guys, 9 o’clock, what’s that?”

They all looked to what she was talking about. It was a different type of Galra warship, bigger and armored, mounted with a giant blaster on top. Hunk noticed the gun was moving, tracking something…

“It’s tracking us! Form the shield- “Shiro started, but it was too late. The gun shot a powerful purple blast of energy, and it streaked across the black of space until it reached the. They were pushed back, almost scraping against the castle.

“Were going to have to split up to take out that cannon,” Keith yelled to the others.'

They broke up in a flash of lights, and they rushed the ship. They all aimed for the gun, but it took all the damage they fired. Lance and Keith rushed in with their jaw blades, attacking both sides at the same time, but nothing worked.

“Guys, I’m detecting a weak spot below the blaster barrel of the gun! I’m going in!” Pidge yelled. “Hunk, cover me!”

“Got it!”

They moved in, evading shots, and got below the barrel of the gun. They both fired at it point blank range, and the under side started to explode and smoke. The underpart of the gun suddenly released an electric charge, and both she and Hunk got electrified and pushed back. The gun then turned down, farther than they thought its range of motion allowed and they had to fall back. As they fell back, he realized the gun was aiming at something. He analyzed the weapons direction and followed its gaze. Pidge! It ignored the other Paladins and began to charge up, focusing right on her. He knew it wouldn’t miss.

“Pidge watch out!” Hunk screamed.

She was too late. The purple and black laser moved towards her at supersonic speeds she couldn't outrun.

So, this is how it’s going to end, she thought.

She tried to outrun it, out-maneuver it, but it already locked on and fired, a precise shot at her lion.

Her lion’s sensors beeped. 1000 feet. 500 feet.

Hunk decided he wasn’t going to die without him telling her the truth. 

“Pidge, I love you,” Hunk said calmly as he rushed to her, full speed, tears budding in his eye's.

“What?”

She knew what he was going to do. Please god, no, she thought

“Hunk, no!”

“Goodbye, Pidge.”

100 feet. 50 feet

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was the yellow lion, blocking the shot, and Hunk throwing himself and his lion in front of her, and then it instantly being teared into shreds, metal breaking apart as it exploded into pieces, and the call of the Paladins for Hunk as they heard his vitals go quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sad now :(


	4. Chapter 4

Lance saw it all happen. He saw their feelings develop and strengthen. He saw how they acted around each other. He saw the beam crash into Hunk’s lion. He heard Shiro’s shouts to retrieve Hunk and his lion, Pidges sobs, Keith’s screams and his own silent screams. But they all heard the vitals instantly go quiet.

 

Shiro instantly boosted towards the Yellow Lion, or what was left of it, looking for Hunk. His lion picked up on the only organic being in the debris field of Hunks lion, and he went full speed ahead towards it. As he got close, his Lions targeting system failed, it didn’t detect any living organisms. Living.

His lions jaw clamped open and picked up what he hoped was Hunk and clamped shut. He boosted towards the castle, contacting and ordering Allura and Coran to finish off the warship, and for the others to follow him. As soon as he got into his Lions hangar, with the other Lions following him despite the hangars size being too small, he opened his lions mouth and set down Hunk gently. He and the other 3 paladins sprinted out of their Lions and rushed towards Hunk. Oh god.

Hunk did not look good. He had severe burns blanketing the entirety of his body, his normal caramel skin being plagued by dark reds and black. His face was cut and bleeding, nose bended far to left, and his hair and armor and headband burnt. His clothing was soaked in blood, and that’s when he noticed Hunks left arm. Or what used to be Hunk’s arm. It was completely missing up to the upper arm. He could see the bone and muscle, and it didn’t look good at all. His left leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, and multiple parts of his chest were exposed. He could see the bones in Hunks chest, which were what Shiro was guessing, Hunks ribcage. He was bleeding out, blood pouring up on the floor, and quick.

He checked for a pulse in his wrist, and felt nothing. He checked Hunks carotid pulse. Still nothing.

“Lance, Keith! Help me bring him to the infirmary,” he ordered, and looked towards them. Keith was crying but instantly obliged, while Lance stood there, staring at Hunks body, tears swelling in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks.

“Lance!” Shiro shouted, tears also plastering his cheeks.

Lance broke out of his trance and ran to help. They hoisted him up, and started to carry him to the infirmary  
.   
“Pidge, I’m going to need you to tell Allura and Coran and set the healing pod up. See if there’s anything else we could give him.”

She nodded, tears streaming down her face as she sprinted towards the infirmary.

“Hold on in their Hunk.”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Pidge raced towards the infirmary to get Allura and Coran. She saw what happened to Hunk, and it horrified her. She caused this. It was her fault. She tried not to think about that right now, as she got to the infirmary, doors sliding open, and Allura and Coran ran towards her from behind.

“We saw. Let’s go!” was all Allura said as she and Coran raced with Pidge towards the healing pods.

“Pidge, set up the pod for use, and set it for extreme repair. Coran, get the concentrated Quintessence!”

“Princess, are you sure about that?” Coran said worriedly, “I know this is a dire situation, but those dosages are meant for Altean’s, and even for us its dangerous.”

“It’s our only shot!”

Coran ran over to the box containing the vials and punched in the code into it, as Pidge readied the pod. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She knew being part of Voltron was dangerous, and people would get hurt, but she never thought this would happen. She thought they would all defeat the Galra, get home, and everything would work out. She couldn’t have thought this would happen, and it was all her fault. She was crying madly as the other paladins entered, carrying Hunk. She saw his left arm was missing up to the upper arm. Oh god.

“Coran, inject him with the quintessence!”

“Yes princess!” 

Coran took a second finding a vein on Hunks only arm and prepared to inject the needle into the vein. He pierced the needle through Hunks skin, and the bright white and blue liquid entered Hunks body. She saw the bright liquid outline his veins and flow through his body. She saw Hunk move a little as the whitish blue glow died down. The second it did, Hunk violently jerked out around and his eyes shot open as he took a deep, long breath. The others dropped him as he woke, and he jerked around violently before he suddenly went rigid, eyes rolling into the back of his head, and his breathing stopped.

“Pod! Now!” ordered Shiro, as they picked him up once more and hoisted him into the readied pod. They secured him and closed the pod. The screen next to it flashed as it read” EXTREME DAMAGE DETECTED. ESTIMATED WAIT TIME: 00,” and the ‘00’ transformed into various numbers before it finally read, “15 QUINTANTS, 4 VARGAS.”

They all exhaled at once as Hunks vitals detected on screen changed from flat to slow, and finally to steady and normal.

“Everyone, get some rest. We all did good.” Shiro said, his voice slightly wavering.

They all waited, wavering, no one wanting or daring to leave Hunk by himself, watching Hunk before Allura and Coran left to wormhole out and repair the ship and Shiro left to assist them. Pidge, Lance, and Keith stayed there, tear marks covering all their faces before Pidge fell to the ground and started sobbing. Lance and Keith walked over to her, and Lance sat down next to her and hugged her with tears still running down her cheeks, and Keith put his hand on her shoulder. They sat like that for a while before Keith left to help Coran prepare a sure to be awful and silent dinner.

“He said he loved me,” Pidge said quietly, to no one in particular.  
“I know.”  
“I love him too.”  
“I know.”

They fell asleep there, the light of his pod shining against their skin, neither daring to leave Hunk by himself in the pod. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

The next few days passed slowly, and despair hung in the air like a thick fog. Everyone was quiet, even Shiro. There was no cheerful presence, or big caring bear hugs, or anything remotely close to tasteful food without Hunk. When the occasional Galra attacked, they all found themselves shouting, “Cover me Hunk!” or even trying to form Voltron, before they remembered Hunk was healing in the castle. Keith trained all day, blaming himself for not saving Hunk, despite it being impossible for him to save Hunk. Shiro stayed in his room, doing push-ups and exercises, not stopping at all. Lance was reserved, not talking to anyone and having nobody to really support him during his depressive mood swings like Hunk, he went days only leaving his room for food and fighting. Allura tried to hold herself together but failed mostly and couldn’t act anything close to diplomatic whatsoever. Coran was quiet, showing barely any emotion and making himself scarce among the castle. But out of all of them, Pidge was the worst.

She spent all her time fixing the Yellow Lion, and blaming herself for what happened. She could’ve maneuvered around Hunk and block the shot, or convinced him, or anything. “It’s all my fault,” was all she could think. She had nobody to comfort her, or keep stable, or help fix the castle. When she wasn’t fixing Hunks lion, she was waiting and sleeping by his pod, and designing a prototype for Hunks missing arm. She already knew everything about him, so she knew how thick it would need to be, how light, all of it. She was working on the prototype and his Lion in his hangar as she heard Coran yell over the speaker.

“Emergency meeting at the infirmary! Emergency meeting at the infirmary!”

She knew it must be bad. Coran almost never called emergency meetings. And if it was at Hunks pod, it couldn’t be good. She raced towards the pod, not caring to dress out of her ‘grease’ splattered tank top and shorts.

She got there first, Keith and Shiro following, and Lance last. Coran and Allura were at Hunk’s pod, Coran typing things into a data board near the pod, and Allura standing before the pod, looking at Hunks pale face. Allura turned around and faced the 4 paladins.

“We’ve recently discovered some disturbing news,” Allura began, “We’ve done another scan on Hunk, as we’ve been doing daily. He’s…” She started to tear up and gestured to the data screen, turning away and forearm covering her eye’s as she wiped away tears.

Pidge got there before everyone else and read the data displayed. It all seemed normal.

 

Status: Alive  
Vitals: Steady, regular  
Time until release: 6 Quintants

 

“Allura,” Pidge began, annoyed they swayed her attention from Hunks prototype. “Everything is normal, why did you bring us he-. “  
She stopped as she looked at the very bottom of the data display.

 

State:

Coma


	5. Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope yall like.

No. No. Please no.

Pidge started to tear up. He couldn’t be in a coma. She still needed to talk to him. She never got to tell him that she loved him back. She knew what happened to people in coma’s. She studied this in high school. She knew that in these situations, a lot of people didn’t wake up. It may have been a small percentage, but with brain damage, many people didn’t wake up.

She backed up from the pod, pushing the other’s away from her. She could see Keith covering his eyes with his forearm, Shiro still staring at the data board with glazed eyes, Coran and Allura looking down, and Lance staring at the screen, tears silently but freely running down his face. She started crying, and she fell, curling into a ball, letting the cold metal floor absorb her tears. She felt a comforting hand on her shoulder, probably Lance’s, and it helped her back up. She looked down, not daring to see those two ominous words plastered over the data board.

“But… there is another way.”

What?

“What were you thinking princess?” Shiro asked, hopeful.

“As you all know, you have deep emotional bonds with your lions. I’m sure you all have heard your lion before. They can trigger images and sounds with their Paladins. When Hunk comes out of cryostasis, we were thinking that if we could trigger a loud sound from the Yellow Lion, it could possibly trigger a sound within Hunk, possibly waking him up.”  
“Would there be any harm done to Hunk then?” Pidge spoke up, skeptical but nonetheless hopeful.

“Yes. This is very risky. The sound could possibly cause brain damage for Hunk. The brain damage could possibly further the length of his coma, which is most likely very long.”  
“I don’t think this would be a good idea,” Shiro said. “We shouldn’t be risking this. Allura, you said yourself that this is risky.”

“We’ll have to take this risk. We need Hunk back. It’s not going to be long before we’ll need to form Voltron,” Pidge spoke up angrily.

“I’m with Pidge,” Lance said.

“We shouldn’t risk it. I’m with Shiro,” said Keith.

Everyone started yelling at each other before Shiro spoke up, “Quiet! We should take a vote. All for trying the process?”

Pidge, Lance, and Coran raised their hands. 

“All for not trying the process?”

Shiro, Keith, and Allura.

“It’s a tie,” Coran said, rubbing his eyebrows.

 

They all went back to shouting at each other, before Pidge interrupted.  
“Why don’t we let Hunks lion decide?”

“That would be hard,” Coran replied. “We would have to connect with the Yellow Lion, which would be easier, as the Yellow Lion is the most caring lion, but connecting with Lions other than your own has always been a challenge.”

“Its true,” Keith spoke up. “The little times I’ve spoken to the Black Lion, it was hard to maintain a connection.”

“We should at least try.”

Lance spoke up. “Pidge’s right. There’s nothing else too lose, right?”

“Fair enough,” Shiro replied. “Everyone, Yellow Lions hangar, 10 minutes.”

 

They all entered the Yellow Paladins chambers and gazed upon the almost repaired Lion. It looked the same as the original, but without the yellow coat of paint. Despite its Paladin being gone, they could all feel the comfort and warmth that resonated from within the lion.

“So… what do we do?” Keith asked.

“Everyone should separately try to interact with the Yellow Lion, and once, if anybody can, ask it whether or not we should continue with this plan.”

Individually, everyone stepped up to Hunk’s lion, trying to connect with it. Everyone was given five minutes each. One by one, they all failed to connect with the beast. Keith, Shiro, Coran, and Allura felt nothing with the lion. Lance got close, but ultimately, it was useless. After Lance’s 5 minutes were up, Pidge was up next.

She was already having second thoughts on this and was getting doubtful as she approached the heavily armored lion. She sat below the lion, and closed her eyes. Please. I need Hunk. We need Hunk. She sat there for minutes, nothing happening. She let a tear slip. Please. I love him. 

Nothing happened. She moved to get up, before the Lion’s eyes flashed an intense shade of yellow. She felt a warmth resonate from within herself and a low growl unlike her Lion, and she smiled for the first time in a while. She sat there, uncertain as she waited for something to happen.

The feeling was short lasted suddenly everything flashed yellow as she tumbled backwards into nothingness.

 

She woke up, and she lifted her head up. She was laying on the floor, or more accurately, the ground, as she noticed she was laying on the most annoying substance known to   
mankind: sand. She lifted herself up. She felt her arms and legs being beat down by intense rays of heat and looked down to reveal she was wearing a green one piece and sandals. Great. She got up and looked at her surroundings. She seemed to be on a beach, with a bright, and she means bright, sun and coconut tree’s surrounding her. She was by the shore and noticed other people surrounding her. She thought for a moment before wondering if this was Samoa, where Hunk was from. The people surrounding her were wearing bathing suits, and no one seemed to acknowledge her. She stepped in front of the closest person near her, a large Samoan man with multiple Tataus covering his body. She noticed it looked a lot like Hunk. Oh. That must be his father. If Hunks father was here, she realized…

She looked towards the beach, and she saw two kids, about 8 or 9, playing in the water. One was tall and skinny wearing purple, and the other beefier, wearing a yellow bathing suit, and caramel skin. She realized the kid wearing yellow was probably Hunk. She looked at his father’s phone as she opened it. March 19. Wait. Hunk told her something about this day before. What was it…

She was in the middle of thinking as she heard a scream coming from the water. The kid in purple was swimming quickly to shore, with Hunk ahead of him. She saw a fin cutting through the water behind them. It was gaining on them, and the Samoan man was running towards the shore, along with others. The shark leaped above the water straight at the kid in purple. Right as the shark was going to clamp his teeth around the kids arm, she saw Hunk push the kid out of the way. It bit down on Hunk, near his abdomen area. He screamed loudly, and she could see blood spilling out of him, and the dark blue ocean water turning into a dark shade of red as he tried to hit the shark. His friend woke from his trance and swam below the surface before returning with numerous rocks and seashells and chucked them at the shark. As it was distracted, the Samoan father warded off the shark with a long, hard piece of driftwood, and it swam back off to sea in the opposite direction. From what she could guess as the viewers were all on their phones, speaking or typing into it, many were calling 911, and Hunks father and others were carrying Hunk to shore.

The viewers ran by her, or more accurately, right through her. This must be a memory. But as she looked at Hunk, it all looked so real. She ran through the viewers to get a look at the young Hunk. It was torn right open, and she could see the raw red muscle. Oh god. She now realized why Hunk would always groan a little more than usual when she playfully (or not playfully) punched him in the side. She felt bad, but she had no time to think about it as her vision flashed yellow for the second time in a day.

 

She opened her eyes, and she looked around. It was a small metal room, with old posters hung against the wall. She remembered this room. This was her room in the Garrison years ago. She looked to her left, and she saw Hunk and Lance talking with somebody. Hunk said something, and Lance and the other guy laughed. She felt a twinge of jealously. The guy playfully punched Hunk in the abdomen, and she got angry. He shouldn’t have done that.

“Hey! Hey!” she shouted as she walked up to the guy, pushing him. Her hands went right through him as she realized that this was another memory.

The group paid no attention to her, and the guy turned his head. Or should she say girl. She had short hair, small frame, and light brown hair. She had glasses, green and white sweater… Oh. She was looking at herself. The door near her slid open, and she saw two guys look in. They were big and muscular, and, she didn’t mean to be a jerk, but they looked like total jocks.

“Hey dweebs,” one of the men said. Classic jock insults, ugh. “We need the answers to homework lesson 3.”

“You should’ve taken notes then, Tadge,” Hunk replied, annoyed expression on his face as he turned to them.

“Well, either way, I need some answers,” Tadge said, reaching for Pidge’s notebook. Right as the jock’s hand grabbed her notebook, Hunk grabbed it also, pulling it towards himself.

“Hands off,” he growled, furrowed expression on his face.

 

“C’mon dude,” Tadge said as he tried to wrestle the book from Hunks hand.  
“Back off man!”

The guy, Tadge she remembered, pulled it harder before Hunk let go of one of his holds on the book and punched him square in the face. Tadge stumbled back, as blood poured from his nose.

“Fine! Just stay away from me, freak!”

Tadge let go and dropped the book and left with the other guy, walking out fast.

“Dicks…” Hunk grumbled as he picked up Pidges notebook and paper. The younger Pidge joined in to help him, and their fingers brushed each other. Younger Pidge and Hunk blushed and Lance grinned at the two of them, and she laughed at the site of all of this, and she suddenly missed him, her longing weighing her deep down in her chest. She fell back through the floor, and everything flashed yellow once more, and she felt herself fade away.

 

She opened her eyes, expecting another memory replay, but was greeted with pure white surrounding her. She was floating around freely, nothing around her. That was until she found somebody curled into themselves. Hunk. He didn’t look that well. He looked burned, and of course his left arm was gone. Although he looked bad, he looked much better than he did before. His missing arm was now just a stump, instead of an open wound. He still didn’t look clean, probably since no one felt appropriate cleaning him, despite Lance saying it was chill since they’ve seen each other naked in thee lockers before, and no one wanted to interrupt the healing process. His face and arm were caked with blood, and his paladin suit was broken and ripped.

“Hunk!” she shouted. He didn’t respond. “Hunk!”

She saw him move, and his eye’s flashed open as he suddenly awoke. He straightened out, and looked around. After a couple of seconds, he looked at her, and they made eye contact.

“Pidge!”  
“Hunk!”

They both tried to float towards each other, and they finally touched hands. They pulled towards each other and they embraced each other in a hug. They pulled apart, and they took each other’s hands. They looked at each other, and his fingers grazed her cheek.

“Pidge…”  
Hunk stared at her for a while before he pulled her into a kiss. She prettily squealed. He’s safe, he’s fine, and they're LITERALLY KISSING EACH OTHER. She’s been waiting years for this to happen. His lips were soft, unlike his mechanic hardened hands, and they tasted like caramel. They stayed like that for a while, before they pulled apart. They stared at each other, before they both looked away and blushed. They floated there, hugging each other before Pidge spoke up.

“Hunk, do you know what happened?”

“Um, vaguely, yeah,” Hunk answered. “We were in an intense battle with Zarkon. They had an advanced rail gun, we almost took it down together, I saw the laser streaking towards you, I moved towards it and- nothing.” 

Pidge started to tear up as she spoke. “Yeah, the laser was going to strike me, and you blocked it. We brought you back, and you, um, - “she said before she choked on a sob, and Hunk hugged her tighter. “You- “

“Died,” Hunk answered for her. “Yeah I remember now. Is my lion ok?”

“Yeah. It was really messed up, but I fixed it up,” Pidge said. She looked at his arm, “I’m so sorry. I should’ve -.”

“Its fine, it fine,” he said soothingly, stroking her hair, something she hated when others did, but was unexpectedly fine when Hunk did it.

“How is everyone?”

She looked uncomfortable as she replied to his question. “Not good. Their all either blaming themselves, not leaving their rooms, or training”

He paled at her words, and went silent, not stroking her hair anymore.

She looked at his arm, and tried to cheer him up, “I’ve been working on a prosthetic arm for you. If you wake up, we’ll attach it-. “

“Wait, what do you mean ‘if’, “he asked, looking at her, confused expression on his face.

“Oh,” she looked down, fidgeting with her hands. She always wished that she brought one of her fidget tools when they got sucked into the whole Voltron mess.

“Oh,” he said, realization crossing his face. He closed his eyes, tears streaking his face. He sniffled a little before he continued, “Okay.”

“We found out a way that we could get you out of it once you’re finished here in the pod. It would involve triggering your lions emotional bond with you. Your lion would produce a loud sound that only you would here, and it would wake you up. The only problem is that it’s risky. It could cause brain damage, and further the length of your coma.”

“So, what now then?”

“We were deciding if or if not to go through with this, but I thought we should ask you. It’s your decision.”

Hunk stayed quiet for a while.

“What’s the percentage?”

 

Pidge looked at him puzzled “What?”  
“C’mon Pidge, I know you in and out. What’s the percentage?” 

“17% chance of waking up, 83% chance of furthering the coma,” she said quietly, replaying the scene in her head in which she approached the princess about the percentages and chances. 

“Ok”

“Ok what?

“I’ll do it.”

“Hunk are you sure about this? Its risky. You may never wake up!” she said, tearing up. She couldn’t think about not seeing Hunk in anything other than a healing pod any more, and it felt even worse to think about him never waking up, the team deciding Hunk was dead weight, cutting off his life supp- Stop it.

“It’s worth the risk. We;re going to get attacked again, and were going to need Voltron.” He said, hugging her. “Besides,” he kissed her on the check, “I couldn’t stand to live like this without you.”

She blushed, and they cuddled there together, oblivious to the multiple problems they would soon have to deal with.

“I saw some of your memories earlier.”

“The shark attack and the Garrison?” He asked, and she nodded “Yeah. I’ve just been floating here, but I’ve been experiencing some of my memories time-to-time.”

“I can’t believe you saved that kid. I feel bad for all those times I punched your gut,” She joked.

“It’s fine,” he said. “So, what are we now?”

She looked at him, “What do you mean?”

“You know, ‘us’, “he said as he gestured to her and himself with his hand. “I mean, I’m in a coma and you’re not. What are we?”  
She took a moment to think about it. She doesn’t want to start a relationship, and have it immediately stop after a couple of days. But this would also be the only time she had with Hunk, and they loved each other.

“I think were a couple. What about you?” He looked up for a while before he finally replied.

“I think that sounds right,” he replied, a wide smile on his face.

They kissed each other, and she savored every second. This was everything she’d been hoping for, she just couldn’t believe this was happening. Before she could continue talking with him, her vision started going black around the edges. She grabbed on to Hunk for support, but her hand just went right through his.

“I think I’m waking up!”

“Ok! Do the emotional lion bond thing. It’s a risk we need to take!”

“Ok!”

“And Pidge?”

She looked at Hunk fading away. Now as she saw him, he looked as radiant as ever. He looked better than he ever has. Better than after a battle. Better than after a training sequence. He was practically glowing, despite the wounds and grime all over his body.

“I love you!”

She wasn’t going to let it end up like last time. 

“I love you too!”  
She reached out one more time before her vision went completely black, and she opened her eyes. She heard a whoosh, and suddenly gravity took force and she was falling out of a healing pod, and the silver floor approached her rapidly. Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will he wake? Will he stay in his coma? IDK, i haven't finished those chapters yet


End file.
